Sanford needs to channel its inner Ted Lasso and 'believe' in Stenton Trust Mill project

Sanford grabbed a big headline earlier this month: the local Planning Board approved a preliminary subdivision application for a Boston developer to transform the Stenton Trust Mill on River Street into 90-plus apartments and commercial spaces. If all goes according to plans, construction could start as soon as next spring.

Such excitement felt far out of reach six years ago, when the mill was the last one standing at the complex after a blaze ripped through its twin tower and left it a tilting, hollowed-out shell.

Friday, June 23, 2017, that was. People in Sanford can tell you where they were and what they were doing when they heard that one of the mills downtown was on fire.

I was the editor of the Sanford News at the time, and a friend called to tell me the news. I got off the phone and went out to my car to head to the scene. I paused in my driveway, turned and looked north. From two miles away, I saw a thick, nasty plume of black smoke billowing into the sky.

It was the biggest fire in Sanford in decades.

Previous story: Developers to reinvent Sanford mill with 90 apartments, businesses

City officials could hardly be blamed when, days later, they held a special meeting and considered not only tearing down the tottering husk at 13 River Street but also the surviving mill that had stood parallel to it for nearly 100 years. That’s how much havoc the blaze wreaked on the complex.

Ultimately, though, the city tore down the burned mill in 2019 and teamed up with the Environmental Protection Agency to remediate the site and the lone-standing mill.

Now, four years later, the lone Stenton Trust Mill is poised for a new purpose. The housing that WinnCompanies is seeking to establish there is sorely needed if the city truly hopes to revitalize its downtown.

I wrote about this development for the Coast Star and posted my article on assorted local Facebook pages. People expressed hope and excitement in their comments underneath the post.

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And, of course, there were some who expressed ... well, not doubt. No, not that. But skepticism. Or wariness. A sense that they will believe the mill will be filled with residents and retailers when they see it.

That’s fair. When it comes to the mill yard, lots of people take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to attempts to remake them. Many years ago, back in my Sanford News days, I wrote articles about plans to redevelop the mill on Emery Street into the same kind of mixed-use complex that is proposed for River Street. As we all know, that did not happen.

But here’s what did happen: a Portland developer and city officials teamed up and successfully revitalized the vacant, blighted mill at the corner of Washington Street and Pioneer Avenue. The mill opened to residential and commercial tenants in 2014.

That mill had a fantastic restaurant that stayed open for a few years and then closed. That loss still smarts, but the mill itself remains an undeniable triumph for Sanford – a tribute to the persevering, can-do spirit entirely necessary to pull off such a complicated, daunting project.

Will the Stenton Trust Mill proposal go the same route as that long-ago project touted at 72 Emery Street? Or will it join the Sanford Mill on Washington Street and contribute to the city’s rebirth?

My money is on the latter. There’s something about this one. Maybe it has to do with the big-city developer at the center of the project. The company has a successful track record of renovating and reinventing old mills in communities like Sanford and elsewhere. The firm has put together a promising team of their people and our people, including local architect Mike Binette and local attorney Brad Morin.

And while cynics and skeptics can be granted their cynicism and skepticism, I say we in Sanford need to channel our inner Ted Lassos and stay the course. We need to believe.

Surely, you know who Ted Lasso is by now. He’s the soccer coach – er, football coach – of a struggling team in England on the hit comedy on TV.

Lasso is the quintessential underdog, a decent man who keeps faith in the face of ... well, cynicism and skepticism. He continues to believe, no matter what setbacks and crushing disappointments his team endures, no matter what other people are saying in the stands, on the streets, in the newspapers. As anyone who watches the show can tell you, Ted Lasso’s belief – backed, of course, by hard work and commitment – is contagious.

During the first two seasons of the show and most of the current, third one, Ted Lasso kept a sign above the door to his office, in full view of the teammates in their locker room. The sign said, simply, "Believe."

Those who have seen the episode that Apple TV released on April 12 can tell you what has become of that sign. It had reached a point when it had served its purpose: it led to a new belief, a deeper, more confident one, expressed by Ted Lasso in one of the most rousing locker room speeches in recent memory.

Believe. Think of that word every time you drive by the Stenton Trust Mill in the years ahead. I suppose I am taking a gamble, throwing that magic word out there, when we do not know yet how this third and final season of “Ted Lasso” will end. But so what? Believe, anyway.

Better yet, the city or the developer should slap “Believe” on a banner and drape it from the roof of the Stenton Trust Mill, and keep it there until its purpose is served.

Shawn P. Sullivan is an award-winning columnist and is a reporter for the York County Coast Star. He can be reached at ssullivan@seacoastonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: For the Stenton Trust Mill, Sanford needs to find its inner Ted Lasso